Make Money or Keep Customers – Which is Your Goal?

• March 8, 2017

Have you ever noticed that as an organization gets larger, there is a tendency for it to focus more and more on overhead and profit, and less and less on customer acquisition, and even less on customer retention?  Steve Digioia, my friend and customer service colleague, asked me the natural follow-up question to this one, “What are the causes of this change and how can you keep this from happening?”

My first response was that yes, this indeed sometimes happens. But that company will eventually realize that it needs to get back to focusing on its customers. Before that can even happen, however, it will discover that it will first need to play catch up, to replace the customers who have defected and to make up for lost sales. This is the exact opposite of what the company had initially intended to achieve.

But sometimes a reversal in policy is made on purpose. Leadership may deliberately decide to change their mindset – and even their company culture – from being customer-focused to bottom line-focused. Sure, this may result in putting up some good numbers on paper in the short run and put some money in the form of quarterly bonuses in the pockets of the managers, but in the long run, it will be a huge mistake.

So how does a company prevent this all-to-typical shift from occurring? First and foremost, if the company leaders have a customer-focused vision in place, before every move they undertake, they should ask themselves this question, “Will this action be in keeping with our vision?” Assuming the answer is yes, then the focus needs to be placed on the employees.

Keep focusing on your people. Constant reinforcement of the importance of servicing the customer is the key to sustaining the culture.

For those who are interested in staying focused on the customer, it is more important than ever to start by hiring the right people, those who fit into your customer-focused culture. On-going training of these people is also key. And, as the company grows, it is important for leadership to constantly stay aware to see if any part of the company (departments within the company, people within the company, etc.) is becoming culturally misaligned.

Amazon.com presents a great positive example of growth while avoiding misalignment. As the company expanded and added different areas to their business, they always put the customer first. The first question company leaders always asked before rolling out a new program was, “Is this right for the customer?” The second question they asked was, “Will it be right for Amazon?

Remember what Dr. Ted Levitt of the Harvard Business School said: “The function of a business is to get and keep customers.” The goal of a business is to make money. But if you don’t focus on the function, you might not reach your goal.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go towww.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken